Customer Reviews

PMC Decade

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4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(1)
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PMC Decade is a gorgeous volume that is required reading not only for metal clay artists but also for anyone interested in contemporary art and design.

There is no one better qualified or more appropriate to bring us this outstanding review of "The First Ten Years of Precious Metal Clay" than world-renowned metalsmith, teacher, author, jeweler and acknowledged PMC guru Tim McCreight. His prefatory remarks provide a personal look back at PMC's birth in Japan and its subsequent introduction into the United States - a process in which he played a leading role. The essay by world-class metalsmith and jewelry artist Donald Friedlich on the "Progress and Potential" of PMC is an insightful and thought-provoking exploration, not just of this medium but of art and artists' use of their media in general. And physicist Darnall Burks' explanation of "The Science of PMC," accompanied by Tina Carvalho's amazing electron microscope images of sintered PMC, breaks down the physics into simple language that all of us can understand.

But the main focus of the book is the chapter titled simply, "The Decade," which presents more than 200 pages of some of the most remarkable and ground-breaking PMC work from the past ten years. McCreight has selected a wide variety of impressive artists and striking art to represent the period, and while not all of them will appeal to every reader, it is obvious why each artist and piece was chosen for inclusion. And many of the pieces are absolutely breathtaking!

One of the most valuable features of the book is the layout of the gallery pages. Each high-quality photo is large and occupies its own page, allowing us to focus all our attention on one piece at a time and to examine all the astonishing detail inherent in each of the featured designs.

The book ends with a chronology of key historical events along with a helpful list of publications from the period.

This is a seminal work by this country's leading advocate and authority on Precious Metal Clay. It's beautiful enough to be considered a "coffee table book," but it's much richer and more valuable than mere "eye candy." I know I will turn to it again and again, both for inspiration and for the pure pleasure of appreciating the extraordinary art captured in its pages.

I highly recommend adding this satisfying and important volume to your library.

For the serious Metal Clay artist or those that are interested in seeing what artists are doing with Metal Clay, I highly recommend this book. I have inundated myself with various books on a variety of topics about PMC and I was pleased to see a book take an artful jump into the history, the process, the progress, and the potential for PMC like no other.

Donald Friedlich's essay set the tone perfectly for the artwork to follow. He hit upon points that struck home for me. Many of which I have sighted to my students in my classes in PA. Comments such as "... it is not the material itself, but the depth of the exploration and finally the quality of what is done with the material that counts the most. ..."; along with several critical questions he posed on p.10 about the PMC artists use of the material as it relates to form, function and design. These types of questions force one to take a deeper look into the whole artistic process verses the mere act of executing a piece. He eloquently discussed the "gloppy and unresolved shapes" and "over the top use of texture and pattern" by contrasting such questions with examples of today's PMC artists that stretch the boundaries of these possibilities in creative and innovative ways.

He delves into the use of mixed medium pieces guiding us through the marriage of these materials leaving us to ponder his final statement, "Perhaps the next decade, someone 'will' make a body of work with metal clay that breaks radically new ground and shakes up the whole jewelry and ceramic world."

The final chapter, "The Decade" in review was a reminder of how far PMC and the artists have come in such a short period of time. It was so complete in its historical references, and the books that are available to us.

It is obvious that Tim McCreight has a passion for all that he does. It comes out in his writing and his presence in the jewelry community.

For anyone interested in beautiful silver jewelry, this book would be an absolute delight. For those of us obsessed with metal clay and its history (which is only a decade old), this book is an absolute essential! The jewelry world and metal clay artisans owe Tim McCreight a debt of gratitude for being willing to look at a new product in 1996 and see its possibilities. The fact that he is a world-class metalsmith makes his interest in metal clay even more important. This is a beautiful and meaningful book--a "must-have."

This is a fantastic book... okay how can it not be when it is by Tim McCreight... but what a great coffee table book for you jewelry lovers and what a wonderful insight into the REAL beginnings of Precious Metal Clay. A must have for those of us who are really into the world of Metal Clay and tired of the first 40 pages of every book devoted to "How To's" when we already know how to!! But for those of you first starting this would also be a great accompaniment to a traditional how to book so that you can be really really inspired by the professionals.

This book proves that metal clay has really come into it's own as a jewellery making medium and as an art form. This book is just image after image of amazing and inspirational metal clay pieces. I have seen many of the pieces before in other publications but that's just cause I have so many books and magazines.
This book is great for ideas, but not is you want technical instruction so I would recommend it mainly to experienced metal clay artists looking for inspiration.

I love this book! It has technical information about the nature of PMC and a positively droolworthy gallery of artists' work. This is enough eye candy to last for years!

This provides stunning, well photographed pieces from a variety of artists that will especially offer inspiration if you are a beginner in this medium of art jewelry. A little more description would add to the presentation.

Precious Metal Clay, the newest tool in a metalsmith's arsenal, is covered in its totality by Tim McCreight. No surprises--Tim is the teacher/writer extraodinaire of all metalsmithing. This great book illustrates the various and many ways this all-metal clay can be used to create art. The illustrations are superb and the artists's chosen for this books are the very best.

Over the past ten years, Precious Metal Clay has been gaining in popularity and the use of it has now reached a professional level. This book illustrates that in the substantial gallery section of work shown. The book also offers a very complete chronology of the history of PMC, both bibliographical and through a listing of events and exhibitions. The introductory essays add to the understanding of the material, it's history and it's uses. Another well-done volume that can stand with the best of Brynmorgen's other publications and with other image-oriented books. As an archive of ten years of work, it will continue to be valued.

A book you'll pick up to enjoy time and again! A collection of the BEST of the BEST in PMC, representing the most innovative designs. If this doesn't get you jazzed to work in PMC, you must be asleep!!!